Vishakhapatnam: Odisha’s ace weightlifter Katulu Ravi Kumar won the gold at the ongoing Senior National Weightlifting Championships here on Tuesday.
Apart from winning the yellow medal, the 30-year-old weightlifter set a new meet record by lifting a total of 342 kg in the snatch, clean and jerk in the 89-kg event.
Hailing from Berhampur in Ganjam district, Kumar started weightlifting at the Veer Hanuman Club in the city. K. Ravi Kumar was originally a bodybuilder for 7 years before he took up weightlifting. However, after his trainer Narayan Sahu’s counsel he changed his attention towards weightlifting, which at last made him an outstanding performer. He took up weightlifting just three years before the 2010 Commonwealth games and won with a record total of 321 kg (708 lb).
Ravi Kumar won many State, National, and International awards in this short span of time. He won 3 gold medals in 2009 Commonwealth Games held at Penang, Malaysia. Then in 2010, he won 3 gold medals at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games. He lifted 147 kg (324 lb) in the Snatch and 175 kg (386 lb) in the Clean and Jerk for a total of 321 kg (708 lb) in the 69 kg weightlifting category. In 2011, he won 3 bronze medals in senior weightlifting championship at Tongling, China. He also won 3 gold medals in senior weightlifting championship held at Bangalore. K.
Ravi competed for India at the 2012 Summer Olympics and won a silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the 69 kg division. His lifts were 142 kg in the snatch and 17h kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 317 kg. He came in second to fellow Indian weightlifter Sathish Sivalingam, who set a new Games record to win.
Odisha police had appointed Ravi as DSP in June 2016. Currently, he works with the Indian Army.
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